Four black vultures (Aegypius monachus) and one common buzzard (Buteo buteo) were found poisoned within the territory of the village of Ticha, Kotel municipality, Sliven district.

Two corpses of shepherd dogs were also found on the site, placed one on top of the other, and one of them had been bitten by birds. It is believed that the dogs (Kangal breed) were poisoned and the vultures were poisoned secondarily.

Black vultures (kartals) were marked with satellite transmitters by non-governmental organizations that detected a change in behavior and thus found them.

The birds and dogs were handed over to the Green Balkans Wildlife Rescue Center for examination by a veterinary expert.

The Regional Police Department (RPD) - Kotel, Regional Directorate of Food Safety - Sliven, Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water (RIEW) - Stara Zagora, non-governmental organizations represented by the Association “Green Balkans” and the Fund for Wild Flora and Fauna participated in the field inspection on March 14.

Both species of poisoned birds are protected under the Biodiversity Act. The country’s penal code criminalizes cruelty towards and killing of vertebrates, and poisoning is defined in the Veterinary Activities Act as “particular cruelty”. According to the Penal Code, the destruction of protected species is a criminal offense: “Whoever unlawfully destroys, damages, holds, acquires, or alienates a specimen of European or globally endangered wild vertebrates or a specimen of a species listed in Annex №3 to the Biodiversity Act marked with an asterix (*), such as the black vulture, shall be punished with imprisonment of up to five years, as well as with a fine of five thousand to twenty thousand levs.”

The case has an additional negative significance because the black vulture had disappeared in the country as a breeding species listed in the Red Book of Bulgaria, and only last year the first successful nesting in decades took place as a result of a reintroduction program. The hatched new bird hatched on 19.05.2021 and successfully bred now has unfortunately been poisoned. The other three dead birds were donated by Spain for the purpose of restoring the species in Bulgaria. There are currently 12 black vultures left in Eastern Stara Planina and 16 in the Vratsa Balkan.

This type of crime undermines many years of efforts under international reintroduction programs for the restoration of species of Bulgarian fauna and leads to instability of projects.

The Ministry of Environment and Water has approved by order of the Minister of Environment and Water a National Action Plan to Combat the Illicit Use of Poisons in the wild for 2021-2030, which has been prepared with the participation of stakeholders.

Pre-trial proceedings have been instituted on the case by RPD - Kotel.